How to get involved in Aviation ArchaeologySo does searching for, locating
and documenting old aircraft crash sites sound interesting and
exciting? It is! It combines many hobbies into one, aviation,
history, archaeology, researching, genealogy, hiking,
exploring, orienteering, four wheeling, camping, photography,
scuba diving, and on and on. How does one get involved?…

Research is the first step, and the
first step of research is learning of crashes in your area to
research. Many of us got started by going through old
newspapers in the library to come up with dates and to obtain
general information on the crash. This is still a great way to
learn of leads to track down, but you can now check out our
Database to learn of crashes in your
area. If you live in the US try searching by state, if you
live outside of the US, search by your country. While there
are over 75,000 accidents in the database it is by no means
complete, so random scanning of old newspapers will still turn
up additional leads. Some people have found a number of leads
by going through death certificates looking for any that state
aircraft crash as cause of death. While this is a way of
turning up new leads, one misses all of the accidents where
the crew safely bailed out. Another potential source of leads
is the CAP/ USAF “Wreckage Locator List” the current list is
available online at the
Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. “Wreckage Locator
List” is a list of “known” crash site locations where wreckage
is still visible from the air. This is to aid searchers
looking for an aircraft that has just disappeared and spot
wreckage, but need to know if what they have spotted is an old
site. These lists sometimes include date and aircraft serial
number. However the information on these lists are frequently
incorrect, dates are wrong and locations off by many, many
miles. Sites that are still visible are removed from the list,
while sites that have been cleaned up remain listed. If you
can track down one of these lists from the `50s or `60s it is
better as they have the older crashes that have been forgotten
about. AAIR has several older lists for CA, NV and AZ, but we
are always looking for lists on other states, please e-mail us
if you have one of these lists from the `50s or `60s.

And yet another source of leads is
anyone who lived in your area during WWII --especially if they
were a teenager at the time. Also check out our
Books page as there are starting to be
a number of books on accidents in various regions.

Once you have a site in particular you
are researching, you want to obtain the above documents and of
course you need to obtain the accident report, see our
Order Accident Reports page. With
the location and picture information from these sources you
can set out on your search. Check and see if any of the
witnesses still live in the area. The crash reports will often
have the witnesses’ names and even addresses.

For more specifics on researching,
learning the fine art of searching and locating sites, the
nuances of identifying sites-- especially “micro sites”, and
historic preservation, try taking one of AAIR’s
Weekend Courses on Aviation Archaeology.

If you do not know of anyone who is
already into aviation archaeology, don’t worry. While some
people search on their own, it is best to have a hiking partner
for safety, so find someone else who is willing to traipse
across the country side on a wild goose chase. Try our
Aviation Archaeology Contacts list to
find someone in your area, or post a message on the
Aviation Archaeology Message Board.

Once you find a site, not only treat it
with respect, but be sure to document it properly. Help AAIR’s
database project on documenting all historic crash sites.
Print out a copy of the
Historic Aircraft Crash Site Report Form and fill it out
for any sites you find and mail it in to AAIR. The exact
location will be kept confidential. AAIR does not give out
exact locations. In an effort to help preserve these sites we
only give out general locations which should be good enough
for most research. We do make some exceptions: nationally
accredited museums and historical societies, government
agencies or firms working on government projects, and next of
kin. See our Why AAIR Does Not Give Out Exact Locations page.

Participate in another one of AAIR's
research projects such as the AAIR Database of all US military
accidents. AAIR is looking for volunteers to assist with the
databases. While the databases contain tens of thousands of
records, they are far from complete! We need volunteers to
assist by going through the microfilm and entering the
information into a spreadsheet. To assist, one must have Excel
and a microfilm or fiche viewer which can be picked up on eBay
for about $25. See our Research Projects
page for more projects you can get involved with.

Create a memorial. See the
Memorial page for an example. This
is a very effective way of getting more people interested in
aviation archaeology. It is also a great way to teach people
about aviation and local history.

AAIR is frequently asked if we have formal
membership with dues, newsletters, etc. We do not. AAIR is more
focused on networking and providing a place to for anyone to do
that. The few people or organizations that we refer to as
associate members
are other researchers who have paid their dues by good solid
research and have shown strong integrity towards crash sites by
promoting aviation archaeology and historic preservation as
opposed to salvage. For more information see our
What is Aviation Archaeology page.